Supergirl #42 // Review
Kara is hallucinating. But that doesn't mean that the government ISN'T really out to get her. All she wants to do is help disaster victims, but there's something deeper going on that she's going to need to deal with in Supergirl #42. Writer Jody Houser wraps-up a saga of Kara Zor-El in an issue drawn by Rachael Stott. The intent is to aid, but there's always some question of outcomes whenever ANYONE tries to aid people. The final issue of the series's current run ends without any clear sense of conclusion, but Supergirl is ready for the unknown at the close of this particular chapter of her life.
Kara is aiding people suffering from the ravages of nature. Her dog Krypto has been captured by a US General in a suit of powered armor augmented by kryptonite. Fighting-off a duly deputized representative of the government would be challenging enough on various levels were it not for the fact that she Supergirl is also suffering from very real hallucinations brought on by a recent infection from some very dark matter. She's going to try to convince the general that she's only there to help. She might even be able to do so while saving a few lives.
Houser is handed quite a challenge in ending Supergirl's series on a chapter that doesn't allow for a whole lot of reflection on what Kara has had to deal with in the past 41 issues. Houser manages the ending with some level of finality by addressing whether or not an individual of great power CAN aid people without serious damage to the very people she's trying to help. There isn't nearly enough space in the issue to really give the questions being addressed here anywhere NEAR enough space to give them the kind of space they need to be explored in depth. This is a pity as the series HAS been exploring the age-old "who watches the watchmen?" question in a small spectrum of unique ways.
The art manages some of the basic work of delivering Kara's inner drama to the page in a dynamic way. The full reality of it seems more than a bit stiff, though. The action makes it to the page with a satisfactory impact, but the drama feels like a lot of basic emotions crudely crumpling against the page. The script would make the depth of the drama a true challenge for any artist, but Stott points page and panel in a very simple direction that lacks any attempt at anything deeper than the superficial action. Stott has managed much more sophisticated work in the past. It's too bad she couldn't have done something of greater depth for Supergirl's last issue.
There was a rumor that Supergirl was easy to kill-off in' 85/'86's Crisis on Infinite Earth due to the character's disappointing performance in a big-budget Hollywood movie in '84. Decades later, this series may be that much easier to cancel in light of the long-running TV series flagging ratings. It's too bad. There is a great deal that can be explored on the comics page. It's challenging to look out over this series's history and those that have come before it and not feel like there's a great deal of potential that simply hasn't been realized in decades of Supergirl comics.
